The Aftermath
by IronKing7829
Summary: What happens after the Avengers save Manhattan? And whatever happened to the Ten Rings leader, Raza? ( I wrote this before I saw IM3 which was epic.) I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING. MARVEL DOES BECAUSE THEY ARE AWESOME. R&R please. Go to Dawnwillow168 to read the crackplot.


_"The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on the wire and let the other guy crawl over you.'' _

The words repeated over and over in Stark's head.

_"I think I'd just cut the wire."_

What an idiot he was. His ego clouding his judgement.

_"Always a way out. You know you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero."_

_"A hero? Like you? You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle."_

_Rogers stared at him with icy eyes._

_"Put on the suit. Lets go a few rounds."_

_"Hahaha. You people are so petty, and tiny."_

_"Yeah, this is a team," Bruce voiced in the background._

_Stark put his hand up to his head and broke his holding gaze with Capsicle. His vision was blurred and a new headache had found its way into his head. He did not stay up all night for this. _

He put his head in his hands. Swallowing the last of his scotch, he stood up. He spluttered and coughed as he breathed in, his ruptured lung burning in his chest. He ran his hands through his blackish-brown hair. His head swirled with bad memories. He almost dropped back onto the couch out of fatigue and dizziness. Okay, so maybe it wasn't bad memories, but more like alcohol and lots of it.

A splitting headache battled with the stitches in his forehead. His wounds weren't healed and neither were anyone elses. The battle that had once raged over Manhattan had ceased to continue and the city was on its way to being restored, but the Avengers themselves were still wounded.

Stark's multiple cuts and bruises and not to mention the lack of oxygen problem he had with his lungs when fighting Loki that left him with major damage.

Thor had no scars due to his demi god status but his brothers' betrayal had left him in shambles.

Rogers's massive burn mark in his side from the Chitauri that attacked him.

Barton's glass wounds and cuts and his mental war with Loki in his brain, which still gave him grief.

Romanoff's bruises, cuts and sprained arm.

And lastly Banner, who had no physical bruises, but had a war within against the Hulk.

Stark struggled down the stairs and to his lab. His gleaming hot-rod red and gold suit stood in the centre of the lab. It was scratchless and untouched since 3 days ago when he had used it to save the world. Again.

_"Shall I try Miss Potts?"_

_"May aswell."_

He shook his head. The thoughts didn't go away.

_"These were found in Coulson's jacket. Guess he never did get you to sign them." Captain America's trading cards flew to the glass table covered in blood._

More bad memories.

_"Don't waste it, Stark. Don't waste your life."_

_"The only thing you really fight for is yourself."_

_"Tony!"_

_"Tony, who do you think locked you out? I was the one who filed the injunction against you."_

_"When I ordered a hit on you, I worried that I was killing the golden goose."_

_"What your family did to me in forty years, I will do to you in forty minutes."_

_"He wants you to make the Jericho missile."_

_"I refuse."_

He shook his head again, suddenly tired. Why was he still bothered by things that happened years ago? Striding over to the suit, Tony rubbed his eyes. He felt like he was sober again and having the worst hangover of his life.

"Hello, Tony."

And the bad hangover continued, or so he thought, because this voice wasn't a memory, but it sounded familiar. He turned, suddenly alert.

His eyes widened.

His pulse raced.

The Ten Rings Leader stood before him. Stark took a deep breath. He stood in silence for a moment.

"The famous Tony Stark has nothing to say?" Raza chuckled. Tony's eyes shifted to the large group of men holding guns.

"How did you get in here?"

"I don't recall any break-in, sir," Jarvis reported.

"The door was open," Raza smirked. Stark looked over at the glass door. _Uggghhh... _He thought seeing the door wide open. He had told that super soldier to close it only a million times.

"Why so many body guards?" Tony asked changing the subject.

"Because I am not here for you, Stark," he stated, his men raising their guns. There were about thirty men all pointing black machine guns at him. They were unusual for a gun. Neon blue light surrounded the barrel.

"Jarvis, deploy," Tony murmured readjusting his bracelets.

"I am here for Captain America."

Tony froze.

"What do you want with Rogers?"

"He posses knowledge that is important to me."

Tony thought for a moment.

"What knowledge could Steve Rogers offer you? The man was unconscious for the past eighty years," Stark smirked.

"Have you ever heard of Hydra, Mr Stark?"

Tony's eyes darkened.

"You mean the man who tried to play god, killing so he could be in control? Yeah, I now a bit about him," he scowled.

"Rogers holds valuable information about him," Raza continued.

"And why are you telling me all this?" Stark inquired.

"Because I know there is nothing you can do about it."

"So you thought you could just waltz in here and take him?" The billionaire asked.

"Yes. There is no point in fighting back. We have found and perfected the art of using the Hydra weapons. Surrender," Raza commanded, pulling a large gun from his back. The gun was bigger than the mens' guns and energy coursed through the full length of the barrel, not just the rim.

Stark frowned and put his hands up.

"That's right. You're obsessed with the latest weapons. I forgot about that," he mused.

"It is no longer Stark weapons I'm after. Now the latest weaponry is Hydra guns," Raza stated.

"Check your timeline. Hydra made weapons over eighty years ago. I wouldn't exactly call them new," Tony joked.

"You are in no position to be fooling around."

"I'm not fooling around, I'm completely serious," he stated a smile rising to his lips.

"If you're trying to buy time it's not going to work."

"Sir, the Mark 7 is ready," Jarvis announced.

"Well, it looks like it already has. Deploy."

Everything began to move in what seemed like slow motion.

Raza's men began to shoot. A clean shot scraped Stark's right shoulder seconds before the Mark 7 deployed. It scanned the bracelets and verified them before protecting Stark.

Tony flinched as the pain started to sink in and blood pooled from his shoulder in the suit. The faceplate flipped down.

Stark dodged the powerful blasts of energy and sent his own blasts in return.

One man shot a single burst of energy. Tony instantly put his hand up and flung his own blast at it.

A shockwave of blue burst through the air as the two powerful blasts combined. The glass in the lab shattered, the roof partially caving in. Tony went flying backwards, as did the men. Debris from the now non existant roof covered Stark.

_These aren't the real Hydra weapons. If they were there would be no way my power could match it. _Tony thought bewildered. He jumped up and flung the rubble backwards off his body. Raza's men relentlessly got up and wandered back to shooting at him. Pure bright blue energy hit his left leg and scorched the surface of the suit. He dodged the next shots and aimed for Raza.

Raza fired his gun at Tony's thruster fire. The clouded energy went straight through his blast. Stark had no reaction time to move and the shot hit the same spot where it had earlier, on his lower left leg. It burned through the gold titanium alloy and pierced his flesh. He gritted his teeth. Another shockwave was fired at his right arm. He dodged as the force corrupted the left wall of the lab. He was flung to his stomach, before he turned on his back moving a little slower now. Debris wacked his helmet's screen as he groaned in pain.

"Do you give up, Stark? You will not defeat me again. My weapons are more advanced."

This was as hard as defeating Loki. What kind of weapons were they using? How did Hydra synthesis the Tesseract's power into a sustainable substitute for gun powder?

As Raza saw Stark's light on his helmet go out, he chuckled and began to walk into the house, "I will take that as a yes."

A powerful blast hit his chest and he was sent sprawling backwards. He landed on a pile of debris.

Tony ripped his helmet off. Blood dripped down from his forehead and into his eye as the old wound reopened. Stark stood up. A gaping wound in his shoulder and leg made it difficult to move, but he had to stop them from reaching Capsicle. Not to mention harming all the others in the house.

"I wouldn't bet on it."

Steve woke up to the sound of booms and shattering glass. These sounds weren't ones made by an intruder. They were too loud for that. He instantly jumped out of bed, grabbed his shield and ran down the stairs to the noises. Why did Stark have to have so many damn floors in this building? As he got closer he heard a familiar sound. It was eerie and high pitched. The sound was constant but, the tone rose and fell as if it was charging up. He hadn't heard that noise since... Hydra.

He flew down the stairs and raced to the crashes. He met the two master assassins, Miss Potts and the doctor on his way down.

"Where's Tony?" Pepper cried.

"I don't know, but I'm betting he's the cause of the noise," Clint suggested.

They continue to race down the stairs.

Stark was bleeding heavily. His fire power was barely enough to counter their attacks, and even then it caused a sonic boom. He had to reach Raza and force him to make them cease firing. He couldn't run so he flew instead. He twisted and dodged the shots before a weak blast hit him in the gut. If it had been full strength it might have killed him. But it was still strong enough to make him explode backwards and into the wall before dropping to the floor, barely conscious.

Raza walked steadily towards him, the scorch mark he had made on Raza's chest had burned his clothes away to reveal a bullet proof vest. Tony saw him put in two ear buds that he had seen somewhere before.

_"You remember this one, right? It's a shame the government didnt approve. There's so many applications for short term paralysis." _

Stark pulled himself up onto his hands and knees before slumping back onto the floor.

_Damn it Tony, move! _He thought angrily at himself. But he just didn't have the energy.

A high pitched whine began to imite from the electro paralysis magnet. Tony felt a pounding in his ears which began to spread to his head. Dark blue veins began to appear all over his forehead, his face turning deathly white. A trickle of blood poured from his right ear.

Raza lifted a pistol to Tony's head.

"I was meant to do this a long time ago. I'm sure you remember who ordered the hit on you. Obadiah Stane was it?"

Tony's face was paled and grim. He felt a twinge of anger and sadness. Obie was like his father, and he betrayed him. He sold him out for money and wealth. Just like Hammer. He knew Hammer didn't like him, and he sure as hell didn't like Hammer, but he didn't expect the guy to try and kill him. All he had now was Pepper. He smiled. Pepper Potts. CEO of Stark Industries. His woman. His leg stung as he began to splutter and cough, his ruptured lung playing up again.

His chest piece was still intact but he wasn't feeling so great. He flicked his eyes up at the man who had imprisoned him for three months, his vision blurring in and out of focus. He looked behind Raza to see, Banner, Cap, Clint, Natasha and Pepper. He frowned as he saw the gleam of Cap's shield.

"Good bye, Tony Stark," Raza said as he took the safety off the gun.

Suddenly the red, white and blue shield was flung at Raza's arm. Steve stepped out followed by the other Avengers apart from Thor who was keeping an eye on the God of Mischief in Asgard. Tony's eyes closed in a particular redhead who was rushing over to him.

"So, it's the Avengers. I've read all about you," Raza mumbled holding his dislocated shoulder.

"Captain, get out of here," Stark warned finding his voice but not movement in his limbs.

"I'm not going anywhere," Steve said fiercely, "He's using Hydra weapons."  
Steve turned to face Raza. "How did you manage to get your hands on those?"

Tony opened his mouth to speak but instead began to choke. He regained movement in his limbs and slowly sat up, leaning heavily on the smashed debris.

"The guns aren't real," he coughed. Pepper knelt down beside Tony and helped him sit up properly.

"What? How?" Cap' asked turning his back on Raza.

"I... don't know yet," Stark replied. "But you need to get out of here."

"Stark, have you looked at yourself?" Natasha asked, butting in.

"Raza's after _him_," he said seriously. "Not weapons, not me, not money. He's wants to kidnapp Steve."


End file.
